Day: April 25, 2026

An excellent lunch

Most restaurants have a menu del dia every day. On weekends it is usually a little fancier, and more expensive. We picked a place about 100 feet from our hotel that looked good. It was more than good. It was easily the best lunch this trip.

We went fairly early but when we got there the outside area was packed. The server was a little hesitant when we asked about lunch and consulted another person and then seated us at what we think was the last unreserved table they had. Lucky!

The menu
The menu, translated using Google Lens (very handy)
First course, roasted vegetables with truffle cream. We shared everything.
First course, ensalada. Not sure if it looks good here but we both agreed it might be the best salad we ever had.
Second course: Salmon and grilled lamb chops. Both perfectly cooked.
Dessert: red velvet cake and orange cream

Viloria de Rioja

A charming little town despite being almost depopulated. It takes two minutes to walk through unless you are like us and stop at a lot and take pictures of everything.

The church is mostly white and made of bricks.
The front, taken with the sun behind it so it looks dark.
A derelict building but strangely elegant. This reminds me of someone saying Keith Richards was the most elegantly wasted man ever.
The few other buildings were also derelict.

It did have a play area. The center has kids equipment. The two machines on the left (and two more on the other side) are adult exercise equipment. And the ping pong table we have not seen before in a play or exercise area.

Signs of the times

Gronze.com is an essential site for Camino walkers. Here is the relevant quote “From the moment we entered Castile and León, the route markers changed. Someone with little common sense removed all the existing markers and replaced them with a metal model, inappropriate for a pedestrian and cycling route that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

In the photo above you see a new sign and an older post marker. The post is probably 10-20 or more years old. It is pleasantly weathered and has a pretty Camino shell icon on the side. It will look the same after another 20 years.

The new sign is a couple of years old tops. As you can see people do mess with them. Plus they are ugly even when undamaged. And they get filled up with those pesky stickers.

And keep them off my lawn too!

April 25: Travel and Walking Day, Santo Domingo to Belorado

Miles walked: 8.8

Cumulative miles walked: 131.3

Flights of stairs climbed: 15 (many more than that downhill)

We did the same today as yesterday to make our walk the length we enjoy, i.e., we took a taxi to cut the 13 miles to about 7.

Walked about 3 miles and came to one of the best bars ever, in Villamayor del Rio (“main village of the river”).

We loved the bar because: they made our fried eggs and toast with a smile, coffee was amazing, the bar appeared just when we really wanted to stop, it was decorated with flags reminding me of my dorky hobby of learning geography including country flags. Mostly it reminded me how many I’ve forgotten since I haven’t been doing my flashcards while on the Camino. Believe it or not, we stay too busy! Sometimes we are busy resting, but … It’s gotta be done.

When we were leaving the bar I told the people running the bar and kitchen how much we liked the coffee and they beamed and told us “it is Colombian coffee.” The cups said “Candelas” brand.

The walk itself? Well, there was maybe a mile that was quite nice. But all the rest was on a wide path that followed just feet from a busy, noisy highway. It was pretty country and beautiful weather, but that traffic noise is tiring, probably our least favorite walking day. (The part we missed in the taxi was along the highway, too. The true pilgrims endured that the full 13 miles.)

After we got into our place for the night in Belorado (Hostal Punto B), we went for lunch. The best meal we’ve had so far. More about that in a separate post!

Now, true to routine, we are in the bar across from our hotel blogging and listening to music. American blues mostly. Very nice.

Part of the walk today that was not along the busy highway
This, too, was nice.
But most was like this.
… And this.
The bar. A most welcome sight.
Inside the best bar ever: Albergue Bar Tienda Villamayor.
I was skeptical this would be a place for breakfast because it was called “Tienda” on Google maps. That means “store”. Turned out it was a store, too. This shelf was its entire stock. But enough to make dinner in an albergue kitchen.
Leaving the bar/tienda. Side entrance. The owners probably live upstairs.
A statue in Villamayor del Rio: Santo Domingo with the famous Santo Domingo chickens. Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Domingo_de_la_Calzada_Cathedral Note: we tried to go into the cathedral yesterday, but it was temporarily closed. I’d love to see those chickens but probably never will.
Shortly before we arrived in Belorado we ran into this cheerful young pilgrim we had walked with briefly two or three days ago. He’s German. I asked him what city he was from and he said Leipzig and added that Leipzig was in eastern Germany and had been in East Germany when that existed. He then added that he was born 10 days after the wall came down. He said that when the wall came down, his mother was so pregnant with him that she wasn’t able to leave her house to celebrate and go to the other side. She was fearful it would not last and they’d be walled up again before she had a chance to cross.